Royal Society strengthens its scientific partnership with South Korea

My usual commutes to Carlton House this week have been decorated, not by Christmas lights, but by a prominent display of the Republic of Korea’s flags, which have lined the streets of The Mall in honour of President Park’s state visit to the UK.

On Tuesday morning, whilst President Park met with members of the Royal Family, we at the Royal Society welcomed Korea’s Science Minister Choi Mun-Kee who attended alongside Professor Oh Se-Jung, President of Korea’s Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Dr Cho Jong-Bae, President of the National Science Museum of Korea, to sign two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) which will strengthen our scientific collaborative partnerships.

Korea’s President of the Institute for Basic Science, Professor Oh Se-Jung and Royal Society Foreign Secretary, Martyn Poliakoff after MoU signing

These agreements mark a significant step forward in the Society’s links with South Korea and precede our President Sir Paul Nurse’s visit to the country, scheduled for March 2014.

At the Royal Society, we have been impressed by the South Korean government’s significant and sustained investment in science over the last two decades and are delighted to be strengthening our co-operative links. We were also pleased to discover that Minister Choi is a fan of our Foreign Secretary Professor Martyn Poliakoff’s periodic table of videos!

We look forward to announcing further details of our planned collaborative ventures with the Republic of Korea over the coming months.